I wrecked the WanpTek 60V/20A adjustable power supply 💥 ... and repaired it again WITH THIS!

It was totally my own fault that the #Wanptek adjustable power supply got so sick! I connected it the wrong way around to my battery and turned it on. It warned me with big sparks but I decided to ignore these warning und it was too late. The power supply was dead, still showed some numbers on the display but neither voltage nor current could be adjusted any more. Some common sense and a quick sniffing test got me on the right track and I could order some spare parts. Luckily it was the two #diodes which died and nothing more.
With the right soldering iron, I could quickly #repair the device. Let me know in the comment section how you solder these larger MOSFETS if not with such a huge device.

WanpTek Adjustable Power Supplies 0V-220V /5A-100A DC

Soldering iron with chisel tip for trains, space ships or semiconductors:

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[ProntoTech-Fix]

You are one of the funniest guys I've seen on here. Keep up the great work. New subscriber 😄

[clarencewiles]

Thumbs up 👍 Doctor the operation was successful 😊

[SVAdAstra]

Well done Andy. You were very gentle and patient. But if you had been a little less gentle with that BFSI (Big Freaking Soldering Iron), as you inserted the new diode, you could have delaminated the solder pads from the PCB while pushing the leads through. Some advice from someone who has been doing electronics repair for 40 years: next time use a solder sucker and the small iron to remove the solder from the through-holes one ay a time. Or, if you don't want to buy a solder sucker, use a wooden toothpick. Also, the solder joints you made at the end, on top of the PCB (component side) may be "cold" joints that can fracture with a little vibration. The solder has to flow freely across and around the pins until it wicks around the pins to form an alloy, which requires the pins to be heated to the melting temperature of the solder. What I see here are what we call "tack joints" intended for only temporary connections. We old techs say: "solder is not a glue."

[Fritsvrolijk]

Thanks for this video have a nice day 2

[gumpster]

Thanks for sharing your mistake and the repair. Glad it all worked out.

[MadeinSA]

Andy, I love your sense of humor. Only us techie guys can relate!!😂😂😂

[awesomedee]

I had bought the same one you have from zooming into another of your videos. so at least I know now if I fry the output what I have to do, and which of my friends has some extra output diodes. 😁

[andrewradford]

Another great episode of Electro UN-Boom!

[John-bju]

Just watched a few of your vids. Interesting, useful and entertaining... I'm learning new stuff with each video.
Definitely worth a sub 👍

[ToThePointGarfield]

had the same issue here. The MUR diodes blow. Ordered 10 pieces to repair and future problem solving.

[StopTheBurn]

Electronics repair as well! I love the Off Grid Garage 📺 Show!

[mondotv]

You haven't lived until you've hooked your battery up reverse polarity!

[malalexander]

Andy, you do know that you shouldn't let the smoke out! Impossible to get it back in!

[andreas]

Awesome Soldering skills... lucky you, that you didn't rip off the via on the opposite side, and usually it is a good idea to clean the flux and also the old thermal paste before reassembling. I wonder how this Power Supply performs on the AC Side with 1200W the filters somewhat don't look like they are up to the task.

[TheChrisco]

Those joins are better than factory.. well done

[markbrettnell]

The saying of oops comes to mind...😅 Good thing you know what the heck you are doing to fix it at least!👍

[randylenart]

I have that power supply and like it a lot. I'll have to make sure I dont hook it up backwards

[Mr.TonTop]

Mrs. Battman must envy the TLC the Wanptek 60V/20A gets 😂 Let the sparks 💥 flow into the new🔋project!

[junkerzn]

Power supplies generally can't handle reverse voltage, whereas battery chargers are designed to handle reverse voltage. For a power supply, though, it isn't just reverse voltage that is a problem. It is also a problem if you connect the power supply to the battery properly but the power supply is turned off... that's actually ALSO reverse voltage on the power supply's output stage. Depending on the type of output stage, the reverse voltage a power supply can handle ranges from 0.7V to around 7V before the output stage implodes. And that's it.

The most common way a battery enthusiast destroys a power supply is by trying to charge a battery with it. Lots of people do it, because they think it works fine "because they've done it many times before", but it is a recipe for disaster.

There are only two correct ways to connect a power supply to a battery:

(1) You connect the output of the power supply to the battery via a diode. I usually use a Schottky diode (about a 0.34V drop). This protects the power supply from reverse voltage, but your amps will be limited to whatever the diode can dissipate which is typically only around 5A in free air (for a big diode)... 20A rated diodes need heat sinks to actually run 20A through them.

(2) You do not connect your regular power supply to a battery. Instead, you use a proper battery charger.

Battery chargers... equipment explicitly designed to charge batteries, are a lot more robust and can deal with these situations without damage. Battery chargers won't blow up if the AC side is disconnected, won't blow up if the battery voltage is higher than the charger's output voltage, and generally won't blow up even if you connect the battery to it backwards. Regular power supplies don't have these features.

p.s. yes, you can gang multiple diodes in parallel and increase your output amps, but de-rate the per-diode amperage to 3 or 4A per diode. So, e.g. 4 x Schottky diodes in parallel can handle 12-16A. For bench power supplies. Battery chargers already have special output stages (usually back-to-back BJFETs or something similar) and don't need additional diodes.

Look for 20SQ060 on Amazon. 20A 60V schottky blocking diode. That works well for 48V applications. For 24V or lower applications you can get away with 20SQ050's (lower voltage drop but only tolerates 50V reverse). But insofar as having a pile of generic Schottky's, the 050's or 060's are as generic as they come. Make sure the reverse voltage specification for the diode is high enough for your application, Schottky diodes have lower reverse voltage tolerances than normal diodes.

(voltage flavors range from 30V to 100V reverse voltage tolerance. Lower reverse tolerances also have lower forward drops. If you are not sure, get the 060's or 080's).

-Matt

[Hessijames]

Having seen your unconventional soldering technique I'm curious: How would you solder 0.6" wide DIP-40 packages?